Marblehead High rolls out red carpet

MARBLEHEAD – There’s something about prom night that takes people back to high school. For friends, family and the parents of Marblehead High School seniors, it’s quite literal.Hundreds gathered on Friday at 6 p.m. at the Marblehead High School courtyard to witness the senior prom “Marblehead red carpet,” a tradition in the town since the school decided to do away with the stereotypical limousines in favor of coach buses so the students could travel in one group, which administrators say is to cut the risk of drunken driving.But even without limos, the Marblehead seniors and their dates departed in style to quite an audience. After the dapers and dolls filed through the random breathalyzer screening provided by Marblehead police inside the high school auditorium, they exited through the front doors and walked a red carpet that led them to one of five coach buses waiting to whisk them off to the Cambridge Hyatt Regency Hotel, where the senior prom has taken place for as long as senior class advisor Patrice Clough can remember.The red carpet walk, though no more than 100 feet, was lined with fellow Headers who keep coming back year after year to yell, clap and whoop at the students as they walk by in their finest.”I have several friends in the senior class,” said 2011 graduate Lauren Cohen. “But I like looking at all the dresses and the hair, and all my friends are meeting us here and we’re going to dinner after. It’s a meeting place because it’s a great place to see people you usually don’t get to see.”Fellow alum Sarah Cooney, a Jet Blue flight attendant who was home only for the day to do laundry, said she was happy she got dragged to the event. “I came back with my mom because she liked to see students she’s (taught) in the past,” said Cooney. “I like to see everybody and catch up, even though I’ve seen more parents than kids.”Cale Weston was returning for his second year after graduating in 2010. “This year it’s really for my sister but it’s good to see old friends,” he said. “I talked to some teachers and it’s good to see people you haven’t seen in a while.”Some parents have become such regulars at the red carpet event, they have staked out the perfect spots for shooting photos as the students move from the carpet to the bus. “The trick we learned is don’t push your way to get in there – we came out here where it’s more relaxed,” said parent John Federman, who was standing by the buses to snap photos. The prom-goers knew well their photos would be taken all the way to the bus, responding like seasoned movie stars as they turned and posed when hearing their names called.Even the faculty can’t get enough of senior prom. Math teacher Greg Dana has been volunteering to chaperone the prom for years. Originally on prom duty as a junior class advisor from 1983-1987, he continued to attend prom until 2000 as the yearbook advisor, and then kept coming back until 2011 to snap photos for the senior slideshow. “This year I’m not doing a slideshow, but I’m helping out my good friend Patrice Clough,” he said, adding that he even brought his 3-year-old son to the event one year. “I think that year the girls paid more attention to him than they did their dates,” he said with a laugh.”Some students soaked up the attention of the carpet, while others only had nerves on their minds. Senior Asher Goldman and junior Abby Dempster were the first couple to walk the carpet, and had mixed feelings. “I felt hot!” said Dempster, “There were lots of cheers!” Goldman said he felt a flurry of “panic, ecstasy and splendor.”Senior Tim Coyle said, “It feels great to dress up. I feel like James Bond,” while classmate Rachel McLean said, “I’m excited, but a little scared for leaving high school.” Of getting ready for the big night, she added, “It took me 40 minutes to put in my contacts!”As the students, waving and smiling, pulled away from the high school parking lot and off to prom, the parents, friends, families and general observers were still plenty.Pa